U.S. stocks plunged deep into the red, joining a global market selloff that started in Tokyo as Japan’s nuclear crisis deepened and worries escalated over the human and economic toll of last week’s earthquake.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 285 points, or 2.4%, to 11703, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index shed 35 points, or 2.7%, to 1261. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 77 points, or 2.9%, to 2623.

The selloff came after news of two more explosions at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant that released large amounts of nuclear material into the atmosphere. Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned of “substantial” radiation leaks. Tokyo also suffered an aftershock in the late evening, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average plunged 11%, sparking broad declines in Asian and European markets. Germany’s DAX 30 index was particularly hard hit, dropping 4.8% in intraday trading.

The Nikkei Stock Average plunged more than 14% at one point in afternoon trade before recovering slightly. It was still its worst drop since 2008. The fall came on top of Monday’s 6.2% tumble, as investors grew increasingly concerned that Japanese industry could be shut for a while.

“It’s beginning to spread double-dip recession fears across other asset classes,” Roger Volz, director of equities at BGC Partners said.

“We’re seeing the world’s third-largest economy grind to a halt” and the resulting supply-chain disruptions will be a weight for global stocks markets until Japan shows signs it has contained the nuclear crisis, he added.

(Source: WSJ)